Archive for April, 2004

Paper products are used every day for packaging foods in a variety of applications. Paper plates, cups, cartons, wrappers, and boxes come in contact with food during storage, preparation, and service activities. For example, when you purchase a Chicken-Pot-Pie from the grocery store frozen section, paper containers are used to store the food, prepare the food in the microwave, and serve the food. All of these activities have the potential that materials present in the paper product could be transferred to the food.

Columbia Analytical Services, Inc. (CAS) now offers the analysis of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs), a class of brominated flameretardants that have been used over the past 30 years in textiles, high impact plastics and electronic circuitry. Recently, they have gained increased attention as “emergent chemicals” because of their persistence in the environment, potential for bioaccumulation, and toxicity. PBDEs are similar in structure to PCB’s, dioxins and furans.